The Soviet program for peaceful uses of nuclear explosions
The concept of utilizing the weapons of war to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind is as old as civilization itself. Perhaps the most famous reference to this basic desire is recorded in the Book of Micah where the great prophet Isiah called upon his people `to turn your spears into pitchforks and your swords into plowshares.` As the scientists at Los Alamos worked on developing the world`s first atomic bomb, thoughts of how this tremendous new source of energy could be used for peaceful purposes generally focused on using the thermal energy generated by the slow fission of uranium in a reactor, such as those being used to produce Plutonium to drive electric power stations. However, being scientists in a new, exciting field, it was impossible to avoid letting their minds wander from the task at hand to other scientific or non-military uses for the bombs themselves. During the Manhattan Project, Otto Frisch, one of the pioneers in the development of nuclear fission process in the 1930s, first suggested using an atomic explosion as a source for a large quantities of neutrons which could used in scientific experiments designed to expand their understanding of nuclear physics. After the war was over, many grandiose ideas appeared in the popular press on how this new source of energy should be to serve mankind. Not to be left out of the growing enthusiasm for peaceful uses of atomic energy, the Soviet Union added their visions to the public record. This document details the Soviet program for using nuclear explosions in peacetime pursuits.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 408695
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-124410; ON: DE97050256; TRN: 97:001205
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 24 Jul 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
USSR
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION
USES
USA
PLOWSHARE PROJECT
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INLAND WATERWAYS
WATER RESERVOIRS
DAMS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
UNDERGROUND SPACE
SALT CAVERNS
SEISMOLOGY
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL